Chapter ONE - Weebly

smile on his face. “Just … talking.”
The men hesitated, looked at each other. Finally,
one of them shrugged, and they resumed their positions
just inside the door.
“Now listen to me,” Ethan said, keeping his voice
down. “Since this began I have been beaten, robbed,
threatened, chased, and lied to.” He waved his free
hand in the direction of the city. “Jennifer’s murderer is
out there somewhere, hunting me, just as I’m hunting
him. The difference is he knows my name and what I
look like and where I live. And he has every intention of
killing me. So do you really think I give a damn how
you’d like me to speak to you?”
Derne shook his head, his eyes wide. It occurred to
Ethan that in all likelihood no one, with the possible
exception of his father, had ever manhandled the young
man this way.
“I’m going to ask you again: Did you lie to me about
anything else the other night?”
The merchant licked his lips. “Yes. I was abroad in
the city that night. Jennifer wasn’t with me. I swear she
wasn’t. I won’t tell you what I was doing there. But it